Scarlett Bellamy

Where are you from?

I am originally from a small town in North Carolina. I had the pleasure of growing up with both sets of my grandparents, until I was 10 yrs old. My paternal grandparents owned their own farm and my maternal grandmother worked in food services at our local hospital.

 

Please describe an experience (or 2) that helped you discover/cultivate your interest in the mathematical sciences.

I initially wanted to be a doctor, having made a promise to help ‘fix’ my grandmother following her cancer diagnosis. She passed away when I was about 10. I was also very good at math when I was a kid. My aunt was a faculty member in the math department at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), an HBCU in Durham, NC. I spent several weeks during most summers with her and my uncle where she often taught summer school. During my visits, she encouraged me to help with lesson planning and grading, indirectly and subtly teaching me whatever her students were learning along the way. I was hooked! Fast forward several years, after being accepted to Hampton University, another HBCU in Virginia I was on a scholarship sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, entitled Student Enhancement in Mathematics and Science (SEMS), which required students to engage in research each summer, preferably at external institutions. During my rising junior and senior years at Hampton, I participated in the Summer Pre-Graduate Research Experience (SPGRE) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a professor in the biostatistics department. Until then, I didn’t even know what ‘biostatistics’ was or that it even existed! But that was my ‘aha’ moment – I had found a discipline that was the perfect combination of my love of math and my desire and promise to become a ‘doctor’! The rest has been a truly wonderful history!

 

What is/are your most proud accomplishment(s) regarding your career in the mathematical sciences?

I have lots to be proud of! In no particular order, here are a few: Becoming a Fellow of the American Statistical Association; being elected President of the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the International Biometrics Association; becoming Chair of Biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health; securing funding at PI for the Fostering Diversity in Biostatistics Workshop at ENAR; securing funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as Project Director of the Drexel Transforming Academia for Equity project.

 

What is/are your most proud accomplishment(s) regarding your personal life?

Being a great mama and wife. That includes being present to and for my family, which means having healthy boundaries.

 

Please share some words of wisdom/inspiration.

I will share a few narratives that I have to remind myself of occasionally when I am facing a particularly difficult challenge.

1. In every failure, there is a lesson. So, fail fast, learn, and be better.
2. “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken” Author unknown.
3. Everyone has something unique to contribute to this world, therefore, it is in our collective best interests to spend some time determining what our contribution is and sharing it with the world!
4. Self-care is not frivolous; it is restorative, and it is essential! 
5. Do not be afraid to ask for help! It is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength!